Operation Beautiful

Here's a Decrease Worldsuck idea I've found this week (through It Starts With Us) that I found intriguing. It was started by a woman named Caitlin, who came up with a mission to end, as she calls it, "Fat Talk."

Caitlin's right. "Fat talk" is epidemic in our culture, and although I've had a pretty good relationship with my body throughout my life, I'm occasionally guilty of this myself. It is certainly something I've worried about, in the context of trying to raise two beautiful daughters that I hope will have positive relationships with their own bodies. And the unrelenting pressure from the media is no help:

Caitlin has now launched a website, which she calls "Operation Beautiful" (syndicated at operationbeautiful_feed and opbeauty) The idea is really a simple one:

One of my biggest personal crusades is ending Fat Talk. If my little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic fat talk is — it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I want to reach as many people as possible with my End the Fat Talk message. If you’ve never read my Fat Talk page, check it out here on Healthy Tipping Point.

Recently, I stumbled upon the Gives Me Hope website, and I was inspired to start my own random act of kindness crusade — Operation Beautiful.

Operation Beautiful is simple: all you need is a pen and a piece of paper.

I’ve begun leaving positive messages on the mirrors of public restrooms — at work, at the gym, at the grocery store. I scribble down whatever comes to mind — “You are beautiful!” or “You are amazing just the way you are!”

My goal is to leave as many Operation Beautiful notes as I can. Maybe some people read them and just smile, but I bet some people are truly touched by the effort of a random stranger.

If you want to join the mission, send me an e-mail at seebriderun@gmail.com with a photograph of your Operation Beautiful note or a description of your experience, and I’ll post it on my blog and on this page! And feel free to spread the word on your blog as well!

Here are some of the notes that people have emailed to Caitlin, set to the Operation Beautiful's theme song, "So Beautiful" by the group Superchick:

From Twitter 8-24-09

( Cut to spare the uninterested )